Pants hanger



R. KENNEDY Feb. 12, 1963 PANTS HANGER 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed July 29, 1959 FI 3 INVENTOR.

ROBERT KENNEDY ay ATTO/EYS Feb. 12, 1963 R. KENNEDY .3,077,291

PANTS HANGER Filed July 29, 1959 2 sheets-sheet z Flea '59 1N VEN TOR. ROBERT KENNEDY (Zay 72g ATTORNEYS Unit This invention relates to an improved hanger for mens coats and trousers and is designed and intended for use by dry cleaning establishments prior to and upon delivery of the cleaned garment to the customer. Hangers of the improved design disclosed herein are also well suited for use by hotels and motels, both for the convenience of the guests and as a vehicle for their advertising.

For many years wire hangers have been employed in the delivery `of trousers alone and coats and trousers together by dry cleaning establishments. These wire hangers were quite satisfactory from the standpoint of cost but were not overly practical from the standpoint of function. Trousers draped around the cross-bars of these hangers almost invariably become creased at the knees. In cases where trousers have been left to hang on these wire hangers for an appreciable length `of time, it is frequently necessary to press such trousers before they may be worn. This presents an extremely inconvenient situation which goes lfar towards offsetting the cost advantage which such hangers present.

It is also true that when coats are hung on the old-fashioned type wire hanger such coats become misshapen because of the fact that the hanger support portions are not of adequate width to give proper support to the coats.

The present invention presents an improved hanger which is extremely satisfactory from the ystandpoint of cost in addition to overcoming the various disadvantages which were inherent in wire coat and trouser hangers.

An object of thi-s invention is to p-rovide :a trousers hanger `which will readily support a pair of trousers by the cuits thereof while maintaining a tension in `said cuffs and thereby eliminating the possibility of transversely creasing the trouser legs at the knee area, and which may be conveniently connected to the crossbar of a conventional type of coat hanger.

Another object of this invention -is to provide a hanger of simple, compact and economical construction which may 'be discarded after having been used only once but which is serviceable enough to withstand repeated use.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a hanger which will suspend trousers therefrom without wrinkling the same :at the knees, in addition to providing satisfactory support for a coat.

An even further object of this invention is to provide a coat hanger which includes means to prevent the coat which is supported thereon from becoming dislocated with respect to the support portions of the hanger.

Other objects and advant-ages of the invention will )be apparent from the description to follow.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a front elevational view of the hanger attachment and a conventional coat hanger in use with the trousers depicted partially in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a plan View of the blank used in the trousers hanger attachment;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the lhanger attachment with trousers thereon taken on line 3 3 of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4 4 of FIG. 1 of the hanger attachment with trouser legs shown hanging one against the other supported by the flaps;

Stats arent FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of another `form of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the blank used in fabricating the hanger shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the hanger of FIG. 5 and taken on line 7--7;

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of lthe hook portion of a hanger assembly shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of a still Afurther embodiment of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I have shown a hanger or hanger attachment constructed from an integral sheet which may be made of hard, stiff cardboard composition or plastic materials, or any other suitable sheet material.

'Ihe blank 10 is essentially rectangular .in form ywith the supporting panels 11 and 12 ybeing oblong, rectangularly shaped and of uniform lengths 1and widths. The joining panel 13 is folded against the adjacent outer face and ove1 the bottom edge of the supporting panel 12 with the two ends of the attachment `14 iitting into the twin `slits 15. A slot 16 is provided between panels 11 and 12 for the insertion of the trousers therethrough. It is readily apparent that -by folding the associated panels 11, 12, and 13 in the manner indicated an oblong, rectangularly shaped, truncated hanger attachment is formed.

The hanger attachment -is connected to the crossbar 18 of -a conventional coat hanger 19 along the score lines 17 between the panels 11 and 13, respectively, the attachment 14 fitting into the slits 15 located in the panel 12.

The trouser cuffs are inserted through the slot 16 between the panels 11 and 12 and are attached to the hanger by slipping the top of the cut trapezoidal sections 2l) into the trouser cuff recess on the outer side :of the pants leg. A similar procedure is followed with respect to the insertion of the sections 21 into the trouser cuff recess Vof the other leg.

As the sides of the trouser cuffs are usually stitched to the trouser legs to hold them secure against the latter, the two sections on panels 11 and 12, respectively, are separated by a centrally disposed section which provides the necessary clearance for receiving the stitched attachment of the culi" with the trouser leg when the sections of the flaps 20 or 21 are inserted into the respective trouser cuff. At the same time the solid section of panels 11 and 12, respectively, including the section of each panel between the trapezoidal flaps 20 or 21, rests against the outside of the trouser cuff and pants leg and holds the trousers securely in place.

The upper corners of each of the trapezoidal sections or ilaps 20 and 21 are preferably rounded as at 22 to facilitate their insertion between the trouser cuff ends and stitched middle attachment of the trouser cuff recesses.

It can be seen that with this type of coat hanger attachment no crushing, creasing or wrinkling action will take place as a result of the cuffs being clamped together because of the manner in which they are spread and held by the trapezoidal sections or flaps.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fold of the panels 11 `and 12 serves to support the trapezoidal sections or flaps by holding both trouser legs thereof with the top of the trouser legs being held at a level close to the base of the hanger attachment. By contrast hold devices of this type had tabs which were on the exterior of the hanger attachment which when produced from a light and inexpensive material were readily bent over rendering the attachment useless and leaving the trousers on the oor. It will also be noted from an examination of FIGS. 3 and 4 that the Weight of the suspended trousers actually tends to increase the holding action of the hanger by pulling the flaps 20 and Z1 towards each other to thus clamp the material, which makes up the inner portions of the cuffs, more closely together.

It will also be noted that the outer exposed panels 11 and 12 provide considerable space which may be used for the advertising of the company or party distributing or using this improved hanger attachment.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. -8, substantially the entire hanger is constructed from sheet material and including the coat supporting portions thereof. A blank is provided which is generally rectangular in shape but which is provided with sloping edges as, for example, at 31. As is the case with the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-4, iiaps 32 and 33 have been provided by cutting through portions `of the blank 30. Centrally of the blank and disposed between the flaps 32 and 33 is an elongated slot 34 which is adapted to receive the trouser legs therethrough. A tab 35 is provided at the top of the blank and is bendable along score lines 36 and 37. An aperture 38 is provided intermediate the ends of the score line 36 for receiving therethrough a hook member 39. A locking lug 40 is adapted to be received within slot 41 in order to fasten the panels 42 and 43 of the blank 30 in side by side relation, as shown in FIG. 5.

The hook 39 is provided with a crosspiece 44 which is adapted to be received within the bent over tab 35 and along the score line 36 in order to support the hanger as seen best in FIG. 7. The tab 35 when bent over to allow the locking lug 4t) to be inserted within the slot 41 forms a locating shoulder 45 about which the collar of a coat is adapted to be received. This prevents the coat from being dislocated laterally along the slanting portions 31 of the hanger.

Slanting portions 31 act as supports for the coat, and the trousers when carried by the flaps 32 and 33 maintain the sloping edges 31 a suiiicient distance from the corresponding edges on the opposite panel so as to present a fairly wide or broad support surface.

An aperture means 46 is formed in the hanger panels, if desired, in order to adapt the same to be supported on a peg. It will be understood that such means may also be provided in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 or of FIG. 9.

Another useful embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 9 of the drawings. In this embodiment the blank 30 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 5-7, and therefore like reference numerals have been used to refer to like parts.

The primary difference existing between the embodiments of FIG. 9 and FIGS. 5-7 is that a conventional Wire hanger 50 is used in conjunction with the folded blanks instead of the hook shown in FIG. 8. It will be noticed that when the hanger is completely assembled, panels 42 and 43 lie on opposite sides of the sloped portions of the conventional wire hanger. The edges 31 of the panels are spaced slightly above the sloped portions of the wire hanger in order to keep the shoulders of a coat supported on the hanger from contacting the Wire hanger and becoming creased.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my previous application Serial No. 792,828, tiled February 12, 1959 and now abandoned.

While I have illustrated the invention as being included in but two modifications for purposes of simplicity of description, it will be immediately obvious to one who possesses but ordinary skill in the art that there are a number of alterations which could be made to the illustrated structure Without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is, therefore, my desire to be limited only by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pants hanger consisting of a member formed from an integral sheet of tough stiff material folded along a horizontal line to form a pair of supporting panels, said supporting panels having a cutout recess between them eX- tending from a midpoint horizontally in each direction to leave an aperture having a total length slightly in excess of the width of the cuitC on a pair of trousers, the aperture terminating on each side by a connecting width of material joining said panels, said panels each being perforated to provide a pair of iiaps with the pair of aps in one panel being essentially opposite those in the other panel, the pair of flaps from each panel being of suitable size and shape for insertion in the cuff recess on the outer side of a trouser leg, the bottom edges of said flaps being spaced above said cutout recess.

2. The pants hanger of claim 1, in which the top of the sheet consists of a joining panel having a means of attachment by which the pair of supporting panels may be secured together when folded over.

3. The pants hanger of claim 1, in which the flaps in the supporting panels are trapezoidal in shape, and in which the aps when in use are secured to the supporting panels along the bottom edges thereof but are free on their other three sides.

4. The pants hanger of claim l, in which the pair of flaps on each of the supporting panels are placed at such a ydistance from each `other so that when inserted in the cuit of va trouser leg the cuff will be held free from wrinkles.

5. A pants holder comprising -a unitary member having a rst section and a second section folded together along a crease, a slot at the junction of said crease, a pair of flaps in each section adapted to register with one `another in operative position, each of said flaps being generally trapezoidal in shape, fastening means lfor said first and second sections to hold the sections together, whereby said flaps are adapted to support the cuffs of a pair of trousers in a hanging position suspended through the slot, the bottom edges of said aps being spaced from said slot.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 in which each of said sections has an upper edge portion which is slanted downwardly away from the center of said section and on both sides of said center, there -being provided on at least the upper edge of one of said sections intermediate the slanted portions thereof a pair of central locating shoulders, whereby a coat may be trictionally supported on said upper edge portions with the collar of Said coat abutting said locating shoulders.

7. A device as defined in claim 5 in which each of said sections is provided with a web located between the aps provided therein, and extending vfrom Asaid slot to the upper portion of the section, whereby to reinforce the same.

8. A device as dened in claim 5 in which said .pants holder is mounted on a hook.

9. A device as defined in claim 6 in which said pants holder is mounted on a conventional wire hanger with the slanted upper edges of said panels being spaced above the downwardly sloping portions of said conventional hanger in order to maintain a garment supported on said edges in non-abutting relationship with said downwardly sloping portions.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,617,565 Suydam Nov. 11, 1952 2,769,586 Lee Nov. 6, 1956 2,792,978 Cudd M-ay 21, 1957 2,884,170 Hamlin Apr. 28, 1959 

1. A PANTS HANGER CONSISTING OF A MEMBER FORMED FROM AN INTEGRAL SHEET OF TOUGH STIFF MATERIAL FOLDED ALONG A HORIZONTAL LINE TO FORM A PAIR OF SUPPORTING PANELS, SAID SUPPORTING PANELS HAVING A CUTOUT RECESS BETWEEN THEM EXTENDING FROM A MIDPOINT HORIZONTALLY IN EACH DIRECTION TO LEAVE AN APERTURE HAVING A TOTAL LENGTH SLIGHTLY IN EXCESS OF THE WIDTH OF THE CUFF ON A PAIR OF TROUSERS, THE APERTURE TERMINATING ON EACH SIDE BY A CONNECTING WIDTH OF MATERIAL JOINING SAID PANELS, SAID PANELS EACH BEING PERFORATED TO PROVIDE A PAIR OF FLAPS WITH THE PAIR OF FLAPS IN ONE PANEL BEING ESSENTIALLY OPPOSITE THOSE IN THE OTHER PANEL, THE PAIR OF FLAPS FROM EACH PANEL BEING OF SUITABLE SIZE AND SHAPE FOR INSERTION IN THE CUFF RECESS ON THE OUTER SIDE OF A TROUSER LEG, THE BOTTOM EDGES OF SAID FLAPS BEING SPACED ABOVE SAID CUTOUT RECESS. 